Ternopil/Borchiv
Aside from the grocery bags, people can hear testimonies of God’s love. And it is inspiring

From Yulia
I am so amazed by how beautiful God is.
How He loves community and working together.
Being on the other side of the border I see even more examples of unity and people coming alongside to help Ukraine and Ukrainians.
On this picture there is a little boy getting a toy during one of our food distribution trips. But for this to happen so many people have come together and put their hearts, minds, time, finances in, so that this boy could get a little gift with a big meaning, to bring him joy and proof that he is seen by God.
Last week our team delivered 910 food bags in Kyiv and Kyiv, Chernigov, Sumskiy regions.

We keep working and responding to the needs in areas nearby but also we were able to reach out to places that are right now under fire and occupation. They are going through the same thing Kyiv region went through a little less than a month ago. Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhya region. We were blessed with great connections and were able to set up small humanitarian aid centers there. Each week part of our team goes to this location and joins the teams we partner with on ground to bring aid close to the front line.

This week we sent 38 tons (3 trucks) of food to these small YWAM hubs.
This all is possible because of generosity of so many people around the word.
Any amount of help is not too small if we do it in obedience to God.

Prayer points for Ukraine
The Russian military have fired on a school in Severodonetsk, in eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk region, where more than 200 people were hiding – many of them children.
Please pray for the safety and rescue of these Ukrainians hiding in the school.
Cars full of people trying to evacuate were stuck at a Russian checkpoint in the city of Vasylivka.

“In Vasylivka, the occupiers have not allowed more than 1,000 cars to enter the territory controlled by Ukraine for the fourth day in a row,” there are women and children in the cars, and that most of them no longer have money for food and water.

Please pray that they can get a breakthrough to safety and the women and children will receive food and water.
Y Ukraine continues to help those in need a midst difficult and dangerous conditions

Al Akimoff and the Slavic Ministries Team

Today Kyle (Leader in Kyiv). shared this story with us over the phone. Today, my three teammates and I picked up a man named Viktor, who is allowing me to share his story. Viktor is from Mariupol, the famous city leveled by the Russians. Since the beginning of the war, Viktor and his brother and sister-in-law have been taking care of his mother, who was 91 years old and unable to escape. Viktor’s daughter and grandchildren were able to get out early, but he stayed behind for his mother.

As the war dragged on, he lost communication, water, gas, and power. Thankfully, he had been preparing and have reserve water in his bathtub and food stocked. Recently, his mother passed away and so he decided it was time for him and the rest of the family to leave.

The Russians allowed him out and he got to Berdyansk, another occupied city on the coast. At Berdyansk he was able to get out and began hitchhiking and walking the 130km to Zaporizhya. After seven days of walking/hitchhiking, we stopped along the road and picked up this gentle, spirited man at the request of the Ukrainian military. He has lost everything, but the joy on his face and the joy in his heart when he got into our vehicle was something I will never forget. Fighting tears and trembling at times, he told us his story and that he needed to get to Lviv to meet the rest of his family.

b.o.sport_okrug was able to get him a phone and new phone number, give him a bit of rest and drive him to the train station and get him on the train where he will be reunited with his family tomorrow morning. THESE ARE THE PEOPLE YOU ARE HELPING! This man is you and your generosity and prayers.

Yulia (Kyiv)
This is what we see every time coming to the villages with food bags. Crowd of people waiting. They need food but not only physical, their hearts need living water and bread of life that is Jesus. We have great opportunity to speak into their lives and share about God’s love and hope. Today we delivered 475 food bags in Kyiv and Chernigov region. Thank you Jesus for these people who heard Your word today.

Al Akimoff and the Slavic Minstries Team

Life in the Sea of Azov could be threatened with extinction due to the bombing of the Metallurgical Combine ‘Azovstal’ in Mariupol.
The Ukrainian military maintained their defence of the ‘Azovstal’ plant for 82 days. The Russian occupying forces tried to wipe the plant off the face of the earth, and then announced that they would turn the territory of the steelworks into a “park area”.
According to Mariupol City Council, destruction of the ‘Azovstal’ plant by Russian invaders could damage a technical facility that holds back tens of thousands of tons of concentrated hydrogen sulphide solution. If this liquid were to leak into the Sea of Azov, it could wipe out the flora and fauna there.
After that, dangerous substances could also get into the Black and Mediterranean Seas.
“International experts and the United Nations must be granted immediate access to the facility, in order to study the situation and prevent an environmental catastrophe of world-class proportions,” says Mariupol City Council.

The Russian invaders completely destroyed the National Gene Bank of Plants of Ukraine, located in Kharkiv.
The bank kept more than 160 thousand varieties of plant seeds, and hybrids of agricultural crops worldwide. They have been collected for decades.
Among them there were varieties that were hundreds of years old. Such old varieties cannot be restored.
“Ukrainian Gene Bank of Plants survived the Second World War, the occupation of Kharkiv, but did not survive the invasion of Russian,” reports Ukrainian Committee for Humanitarian and Information Policy.
There are only few Gene banks of plants in the world.

Wars often cause horrible damage to the earth. Often there is no regard to what damage is done and that it could be lasting damage, sometimes for decades or even a llifetime.

II Chronicles 7:14
If my people, which are called by my name, shall ahumble themselves, and bpray, and seek my cface, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Can we pray for the earth of Ukraine, the bread basket of the world at one time. So many millions of people are dependent on Ukraine and Russia for wheat, grain, corn and sunflower oil.

Al Akimoff and the Slavic Minsitries Team

Report from Y Ukraine – May 17
“Team is well. Tomorrow they are going to Zaporizhsha. We are bringing supplies and ministry to the people still there.
Please pray for the Kharkiv team. They are in some really dangerous condition. There is the noise of bombing in the background. They are evacuating a lot. Every morning they wake up to new distractions in the villages.
Appreciate your prayers for safety and wisdom on the teams. Thank you.

The need for food continues for the people of Ukraine. Here is what we are doing to meet the need:
“This used to be where Y Ukraine location held their meetings but has now been turned into a warehouse for supplies. Every day this warehouse fills up and empties and then fills up again. What comes in goes out immediately to meet the needs of the people in and around Kyiv. Sometimes the supplies are taken to the front lines in the east as well.”
Please pray for continued finances and food to be available for the needs of the suffering Ukrainians.

Japhin is from India and is one of our staff members who felt the Lord led him and his wife Marie from Germany to stay in Ukraine once the war began. “This is how we make bags which we send out to the villages.
– On average, a bag takes a little over a minute.
– A bag feeds a family for more than a week.
– We always try to hand over the bags in person because, at the end of the day, what we give is more than just-food. We believe Hope, faith, and love are more important than a meal. Thank you for giving and making all this happen.”

The teams are going deeper into the liberated areas and are finding more and more desperate needs. Please pray for safety for them, there are land mines, unexploded bombs and bombs that are still being fired at surrounding areas to Kyiv and other cities.

Al Akimoff and the Slavic Ministries Team

Update on the wounded Ukrainian soldiers at the Azovstal steel plant:
“Currently, a ceasefire regime has been established in the area and a humanitarian corridor has been opened, through which wounded Ukrainian servicemen are being delivered to a medical facility in Novoazovsk, Donetsk People’s Republic, to provide them with all the necessary assistance.” Novoazovsk is about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Mariupol.
Please pray that all the wounded will be released for medical attention.

Prayer for one of our Y Ukrainian leaders headed to Norway
“He will be speaking in churches and at Y family locations, giving interviews on tv and radio. All of this is connected with the fundraising for Ukraine relief work. Please pray for them that God will lead them through this time and that they will have his wisdom. Thank you.”

Points for prayer: Kyiv Team
1) Pray for our new initiatives in Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhya and Mykolaiv. The Front line of the war has moved and we need to bring humanitarian aid to them.
2) For restoration and the rebuilding time, specifically for people’s hearts and homes, now and after the war. Many are turning to the Lord in this difficult situation.
3) For our team in Kyiv – they need God’s refreshment, his guidance, and for his protection.
4) Continued financial support
5) For unity and continued great partnership among churches and denominations.

Thank you for your continued and constant support!

Al Akimoff and the Slavic Ministries Team

Brother Andrew (God’s Smuggler)
So instrumental in making known the situation of the underground church during the Communist years has just turned 94. We celebrate this man whom God used to raise up a whole generation to go to closed countries to take the gospel. He had such an impact on YWAM as we were just beginning our ministry in the Soviet Union. Here are a couple of examples of praying our way across borders, something that Brother Andrew taught us.

One young man’s story from Ukraine
Last week, a young man was a part of a convoy of no fewer than 1,000 vehicles trying to leave Kherson. The Russians ultimately let the convoy move in batches — but only after holding it in one place for most of the day.
“For me, this was already the fifth attempt to leave the controlled territory. The previous four times it didn’t work out.” “What surprised me was that suddenly Russians let us go through the checkpoint without any examination.”
He had heard stories of extensive checks, phones being examined and property stolen.
In hearing stories like this one, it occurs to me, could that have been the intervention of the Lord. How many other stories will we hear in the future like this one. We need to continue to intercede for more of God’s interventions.

From one of the leaders in Ukraine:
“It went great in Kharkiv! Delivery of Supplies and extractions went smoothly. Staff are still there.
I’m excited for the open doors to get the resources and especially prayer into the areas of need. What a blessing and privilege to serve like this!”
Please continue to pray for our teams making those dangerous journeys into Kharkiv.
Prayer request from Y Ukraine
A large convoy of cars and vans with residents escaping the city finally reached safety in the Ukrainian Zaporizhzhia, in what is believed to have been the largest single evacuation from Mariupol since the start of the war.
The convoy numbered between 500 and 1,000 cars, who had to wait three days for Russian troops to allow them to pass.
Officials estimate about 150,000 people remain in Mariupol, many of them unable to leave.
Appreciate prayer as our teams are going to Zaporizhzhia to help the refugees who have just fled from Mariupol.
Prayer for the children who have escaped from the destruction of their homes.
Trauma therapy for children reveals a lot from them drawing their experiences. Here is one example. It opens the understanding of the pain they have gone through because of this war.
“For a nine-year-old boy, the family spent a lot of time in a basement. He was afraid of bombs and rockets. They didn’t have a lot to eat, so his main concern was about food. At the beginning, the basket was empty. (Drawing below). He then added the sun, grass and flowers, and turned the planes into birds, which were throwing eggs from the sky.
“He also added pyrizhky [a Ukrainian bun] to the basket. He was taking them to his grandmother, who could not leave Mariupol. If you look the way he drew the eyes you see they’re big, which is a sign of fear.”

Let’s continue to pray Bro. Andrew’s prayer, “Lord you opened the eyes of the blind, please now blind the eyes that they cannot see.”
Al Akimoff and the Slavic Ministries Team

Yulia (Kyiv)

This is what we see every time coming to the villages with food bags.
Crowd of people waiting. They need food but not only physical, their hearts need living water and bread of life that is Jesus.
We have great opportunity to speak into their lives and share about God’s love and hope.
Today we delivered 475 food bags in Kyiv and Chernigov region.
Thank you Jesus for these people who heard Your word today.

Yesterday we asked you to pray for the situation with the lack of fuel for our teams. Here is the answer a day later….

Glen (Kyiv)
Jacek and I were talking about how diesel in Ukraine is the new toilet paper from Covid days. We were below empty with 30 km to go and had just poured in our final container of 20 liters. The entire day we either passed ghost town gas stations with nobody there, or else incredibly long lines with many hours or days to wait just to get about 7 gallons worth. We talked to people who were first in line and had been waiting two full days for the diesel trucks to show up so they could get their 7 gallons worth of fuel.
Incredibly, not 10 minutes after we had emptied our final container into our tank, we missed our GPS turnoff and had to turn around in an empty gas station to go back the right way. We decided to stop and ask if they knew any place where we could get fuel? Unbelievably, they said their station had fuel! Miracle number 1. There were absolutely no cars or trucks at all at this station so we were the only ones “in line” to get fuel. Miracle #2. They said there was a fuel limit but we could fill up to the limit, drive around in a circle, and repeat the process again and again until we had all the fuel we needed. Miracle #3!
Each one of these things is completely unheard of much less all three happening at the exact time after we had just used up our final container of fuel and we were only using the gas station to turn around!
So many have prayed for our fuel situation and this was such a God thing we just kept laughing and laughing for miles afterwards. Rejoice with us!

Thank you for your prayers, they really do wonders.

Al Akimoff and the Slavic Ministries Team

Valya (Kyiv)
Today we traveled to Trostyanets’, Summy region. This part of Ukraine suffered a lot from shelling. It’s just 50 km to the border with Ruzzia. We saw lots of pain and hopelessness. I met a grandpa, his name is Volodymyr Pavlovych, he lost everything what he had in a moment. A bomb felt onto his home. He and his wife were hiding in the basement. Both of them are 82 years old.
While we were talking he said that he didn’t believe that God exists, but after everything what he experienced said, that only God could save them.
Pray for Ukraine and for people whom we are serving. For hope to be in their hearts.

Glen (Ternopil)
Here’s one of the most common sights in Ukraine now … totally empty gas stations! There is hardly any place in all of Ukraine that sells diesel. If you can find one, you must wait in line for many hours just to buy the 6 gallons limit worth.
We have three trucks filled with supplies and are getting terrible mileage. We filled up with diesel in Poland just before entering Ukraine, plus bought extra containers filled with diesel, but it won’t be enough for us to drive all the way across Ukraine and back again. We need to see God provide this very real need. Keep praying, thank you!

Ukrainian Resiliance

Kharkiv
People just glue a whole wall and move on. Home is home.

Tanya (Kyiv)
They keep their studies in the underground.
Have you ever complained about your school days? I did….
But those kids sleep, study, eat, hide from the shelling wait for their fathers in these underground stations of Kharkov.
As a teacher and as a person who loves kids I couldn’t just pass by this picture.

Thank you for your continued prayers,
Al Akimoff and the Slavic Ministries Team

Ira (Kyiv)
When the full-scale war just started, we wanted to hope it would be over in a few weeks. Then we were praying it would be over by Easter. Now, we pray it will be over by the end of summer, but the time keeps stretching. According to the US Intelligence expectations, Russia is going to prolong the war and switch to a crawl in order to exhaust Ukraine and the rest of the world. Putin thinks that by winter, people will get tired of hearing about the war, and they will be annoyed with the inconvenience of the war (higher prices, food shortage, immigration crisis – all of this will impact the world, not just Ukraine). He hopes to get everything he wants, adding more nuclear war threats.

Please, pray for the world not to give up on Ukraine. If you look at the map, you will see how many European countries immediately depend on the outcome of the war on Ukraine. If Russia completely occupies the South of Ukraine, they will have a clear passage to “Transnistria,” the part of Moldova under Russian occupation since 1992, and a doorway to further occupation of Moldova. If Russia gets to the western border of Ukraine, it will not stop there. The Soviet Union occupied part of Poland in 1939, and Russia has been hinting at getting revenge on Poland for helping Ukraine. Since Belarus is de-facto a tool in the hands of Russia and its territory is used for attacks on Ukraine, it is only a matter of time until its territory is used to facilitate invasion in Lithuania. Latvia and Estonia already share a border with Russia – they were under Soviet occupation until the 1990s, and Russia has already made statements about the “poor treatment of Russian-speaking people there.”

As you can see, WWIII is only a matter of time if this is not stopped soon. Please, pray for deliverance and divine intervention.
Please, keep praying for Mariupol. Today, Azovstal suffered 34 air raids. It is bombed and shelled using all possible weapons from the land, sea, and air. There are over 1,000 Ukrainian defenders there, and hundreds of them are wounded without access to the medical care they need. May God’s mercy and power be with them.

Thank you for your prayers,
Al Akimoff and the Slavic Ministries Team

No news is sometimes good news….
A huge victory parade was expected in Moscow today. Instead there was a toned down parade with no victory speech, no declaration of war or talk of taking other countries.
Could this be an answer to so many people praying around the world?
Nevertheless, the war continues with bombs falling on the Eastern front, Odessa and Mykolaev. Let’s continue to pray…

From Rachel Tijuana, Mexico
There are 72 Ukrainian refugees left in the city of Tijuana waiting for their turn to get into the US. Today we hosted them at our YWAM campus and it was so special. The kids loved playing soccer, bouncing in a bouncy castle, having their faces painted and doing piñatas. Thankful to be able to bless these beautiful families today

Please pray also for the Ukrainian refugees in the Mexico City camp. Our 2 families have been there several weeks now as they wait for their applications to be approved. The camp had a surge of 500 refugees arrive there!

Thank you for your continued prayers

Al Akimoff and the Slavic Ministries Team